In my opinion, a main purpose of a final examination in a semester-long course is to provide students with a chance to take stock in the work done in the class over the whole semester and apply new understandings and skills to the topic at hand, i.e. American Public Education. The syllabus for this course begins with a summary of the course's scope:
"The goal of this course is for students to develop and share an understanding of education in American society, to begin to analyze educational principles and practices, and to apply these principles to understand and form a reasoned opinion about current educational reform efforts. Students will be introduced to the complex nature of the American public school system as they research and describe Rhode Island educational contexts and policies. The persistent inequities in American education are a major theme of the course, and the similarities and differences among Rhode Island schools are examined and discussed."
We all have our opinions about school which are strongly influenced by our past experiences. In this examination, you are expected to move past your deeply held beliefs about education to include knowledge from reputable sources, including our course readings, information about RI Schools gleaned from reputable sources, and your own scholarly research from our last project.
Exam Structure
In this year's exam, you will be given a opinion/editorial article from a reputable source. Your task will be to express your reasoned reaction to this article by answering some guiding questions about situation described in the article using only sources developed in the course. The guiding questions that we brainstormed in class include:
1. Be sure your essay has an introduction. Introduction should include:
Thesis statement
Roadmap (A sentence that previews the topics discussed in the essay)
2. A brief summary of the argument in the editorial, article, or blog.
3. Your reasoned response to the main points or argument of the article. Your reasoning should construct an argument based on sources from the course. These sources can include:
Course readings: Suskind, Kozol, Ravitch, RI Strategic Plan
Our reading note summaries from the sources listed above.
Your own products: Academic autobiographies, Context reports, Issues Related to Reform research, etc.
4. A conclusion
5. A Bibliography.
All citations should be in APA style. Note: Zotero can be used to add citations to a Google Document. Zotero will add the inline citations as well if you hold the "option" key down while you drag the zotero record into your text.
Note: Additional questions that must be addressed may be added on exam day. Expect the unexpected!
Once you have written your response, you will "trade papers" with your peer editor by sharing your google document with him or her. They can add comments, edits, etc to your draft. You can use their edits to finalize your paper.
The Exam Process
Choose an article to analyze. - . Choose ONE article in the linked folder analyze. NOTE: Peer editors CANNOT write about the same article.
Prepare an outline or other representation of your essay before class.
EDC 102H Final Exam - Fall 2011
Introduction
In my opinion, a main purpose of a final examination in a semester-long course is to provide students with a chance to take stock in the work done in the class over the whole semester and apply new understandings and skills to the topic at hand, i.e. American Public Education. The syllabus for this course begins with a summary of the course's scope:
"The goal of this course is for students to develop and share an understanding of education in American society, to begin to analyze educational principles and practices, and to apply these principles to understand and form a reasoned opinion about current educational reform efforts. Students will be introduced to the complex nature of the American public school system as they research and describe Rhode Island educational contexts and policies. The persistent inequities in American education are a major theme of the course, and the similarities and differences among Rhode Island schools are examined and discussed."
We all have our opinions about school which are strongly influenced by our past experiences. In this examination, you are expected to move past your deeply held beliefs about education to include knowledge from reputable sources, including our course readings, information about RI Schools gleaned from reputable sources, and your own scholarly research from our last project.
Exam Structure
In this year's exam, you will be given a opinion/editorial article from a reputable source. Your task will be to express your reasoned reaction to this article by answering some guiding questions about situation described in the article using only sources developed in the course. The guiding questions that we brainstormed in class include:
1. Be sure your essay has an introduction. Introduction should include:
2. A brief summary of the argument in the editorial, article, or blog.
3. Your reasoned response to the main points or argument of the article. Your reasoning should construct an argument based on sources from the course. These sources can include:
- Course readings: Suskind, Kozol, Ravitch, RI Strategic Plan
- Our reading note summaries from the sources listed above.
- Your own products: Academic autobiographies, Context reports, Issues Related to Reform research, etc.
4. A conclusion5. A Bibliography.
Note: Additional questions that must be addressed may be added on exam day. Expect the unexpected!
Once you have written your response, you will "trade papers" with your peer editor by sharing your google document with him or her. They can add comments, edits, etc to your draft. You can use their edits to finalize your paper.
The Exam Process
Exam Documents